In an interview with ESPNW, Wambach revealed that she found the attention amusing because she has been comfortably “out” for a while and all her friends knew about her relationship with Huffman. She also explained why she never has made a big deal of her sexuality.

“I can’t speak for other people, but for me, I feel like gone are the days that you need to come out of a closet. I never felt like I was in a closet. I never did. I always felt comfortable with who I am and the decisions I made,” Wambach told ESPNW.

Wambach joined Athlete Ally over the summer, which is a group supporting gay athletes. Aside from that, she says she never felt the need to make huge statements about her sexual preference.

“I’ve never been asked a question in my soccer world about my relationship, rightfully so because it shouldn’t matter because it doesn’t have anything to do with soccer,” she added. “But I realize I’m a public figure and people are curious about my private life. I’m honestly not the kind of person who wants to step up to a podium, test the microphone and be like, ‘Hey, I’m homosexual and this is who I am, hear me roar.’ That’s not who I am.”

I think there are two aspects of her comments. One, Wambach isn’t out to make huge statements, which is fine. And two, this says a lot about the overall attitude and acceptance of gay athletes. Whether an athlete is gay or not shouldn’t be a big deal, just like it hasn’t been for Wambach, who was the 2012 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year. We should be at a point where whether an athlete is gay or not is inconsequential. It seems like Wambach has long felt that way, which has probably made her life very comfortable.